Cold Affection
by Kazoot
Summary: Winter has come, bringing along a vicious blizzard to the forest. The fox and snake take shelter, but will they be able to keep warm?


**Decided to break away from my current story for a moment to write something else. Specifically, I wanted to write a quick love story for Valentine's Day. Also, (if you've been to my profile, then you already know,) I'm having a lot of personal things happening and blah, blah, blah, that's why I'm breaking away from the norm. So, just enjoy the story, and hope you have a happy Valentine's Day!**

* * *

A sharp, turbulent wind howled through the forest. Buckets of snow fell from the sky, landing on the already thick blanket of snow that dressed the grass and forest trees. The air was wispy and hard to breathe. Small, frozen ice shingles formed at the tips of tree branches and shrubs. It was once again the season of winter, and the Pokémon residing in the forest were all asleep, hibernating during this long period of harsh cold.

Well, except for two Pokémon...

A snake with a leafy tail and a brown-furred fox sat across from each other in a small, dark cave. The two of them sat there shivering, as they waited for the storm to pass. But the snow continued to pound the earth outside, with no sign of stopping soon. These two Pokémon were not strangers to each other, though. They were both childhood friends. With the two of them both having lost their parents at a young age, they became remorseful to each other. They then grew very close, like brother and sister, taking care of each other. They were fully aware of the inevitable change in seasons, and had planned accordingly by hoarding berries and such. However, they were still too inexperienced at how to prepare themselves; They didn't know how to keep warm, or even start a fire. Without parental guidance and protection, the only thing they could do was live through the suffering cold, and hope they held out through it. Neither one of them were adapted to the current climate, and it began taking a toll on them.

_"Achoo!" _The snake let out a loud sneeze, followed by a sniffle.

"Are you okay, Snivy?" The fox worriedly asked.

"Yeah... I'll be fine, Eevee. I just wish we had a fire, or some kind of heat source..." Snivy looked over at Eevee. "You're lucky you have all that fur on you to keep warm..." He let out a sigh.

"Hm... In that case..." Eevee stood up and walked over to Snivy. Unexpectedly, she sat down and leaned against his stomach. Her fluffy tail waved in front of his face, which had turned into a light pink color.

"W-What are you doing!?"

"Well, if you want to be warm, then let me share my fur with you!" Eevee laughed.

Snivy turned his head away. He wasn't entirely sure that just sitting close to each other would be enough to stay warm. But, a few minutes later, he realized that there was a lot of warmth coming from her body. It felt like a nice fluffy blanket was bunched up in front of him. But it was only warming up the lower half of his body. He instinctively threw his arms around her, wanting more warmth. However, Eevee broke away from his hug.

"Snivy!" She was irritated. "What are you doing? I was just trying to keep you warm! I didn't want to hug... Sheesh..." She sat down a few feet away from him, back against the wall. While they did care for each other like brother and sister, they also argued like brother and sister...

"B-But! I- uh..." Snivy rubbed the back of his head. He couldn't argue out of this; He messed up. Although, he didn't intend to make her uncomfortable by the hug; He just wanted to keep warm. Then again, maybe it did seem selfish to touch her in a way she wasn't comfortable with...

Hours passed by as the two of them continued to sit there in awkward silence. Snivy was too afraid to talk to Eevee about anything because he felt that she would either ignore him, or just get mad again. The longer he sat within her presence, the more uncomfortable the atmosphere in the cave became. He felt guilty. The snow storm outside softened up a little, but there were still rough winds blowing around. A low hum from the wind pervaded their silence as it entered the cave; It blew over Snivy. He shivered even more from the cold.

_"Achoo!"_ He let out another sneeze. Unexpectedly, he heard Eevee speak to him.

"Hey... Snivy?" Her eyes were looking out towards the storm.

"Hm?" He looked over at Eevee, acknowledging her question.

"When you evolve... you only turn into one Pokémon right? You don't get a choice or anything like that, do you?" Snivy gave a confused look.

"Yeah, that's right. When I evolve, I'll become a Servine, and nothing else. Why are you asking that at a time like this?" Eevee's eyes switched their gaze towards the floor. She remained silent for a moment.

"You do know how Eevee evolve, right?" Snivy thought to himself before answering.

"Nope. No idea..." Eevee turned to face him.

"Well, you see, Eevee can evolve into many different types of Pokémon. Vaporeon, a water type; Leafeon, a grass type; Jolteon, an electric type..." she paused, "... Flareon, a fire type..." Snivy perked up when he heard this.

"You can turn into a fire type? Why didn't you say so earlier!?"

"Well, hang on a moment! I can't do that unless I have a fire stone..."

Snivy looked down and let out a sigh of depression when he heard that.

"It'd be extremely helpful if you were a fire type right now." He noticed Eevee droop her head when he said this. "I-I mean, it would be helpful, but..." he paused and sighed. "Look Eevee, I don't want you to evolve into something you don't want to be, just because of me. It's your decision, so you decide what you want to be." She looked up at him. "Honestly, it definitely would help if you turned into a fire type now. But, I think I like you now, _just the way you are!_" He gave her a small smile. Eevee closed her eyes and smiled back.

"Thanks Snivy..."

They both leaned back against the walls of the cave...

As the time went by, Snivy realized that the cave was getting colder. A rough wind would occasionally breeze through for a few seconds.

_"Achoo!" _He sneezed for a third time. If he didn't get warm again soon, he'd get really sick. He looked over at Eevee. She had her eyes closed, lost in deep thought. Snivy decided against bothering her. He stood up. There's only one other thing he could do.

"Hey, Eevee..." She perked her ears up, but she didn't look at him. He let out a sigh. "I'm going to go out there and find something to make a fire..." His insane idea caught her attention.

"What!? Do you even know what to look for? Or what you need to make a fire?"

"Nope, I don't know... But if I don't get warm soon, I'm only going to get more sick. I have to go out there..." Snivy turned towards the outside. As soon as he stuck his foot out, he froze in place; Once he felt the chilly wind blow over his foot, he became frightened of the outside cold. He pulled his foot back and rubbed his forearms to keep warm.

"Here, Snivy," Eevee stood up, walking towards the outside. "I'll go out and look for the materials."

"A-Are you sure?" Snivy already felt bad about what he did earlier. There's no way she was just going to get up and help him out of nowhere.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Besides, I'm much more suited to go out there than you." She took a step outside.

"Wait, Eevee!" She turned around and faced him. "Um... Thank you. And... I'm sorry about earlier." She smirked at him, and walked back into the cave. She quickly gave Snivy a quick kiss on his cheek. Snivy's face became a light red as he took a step back from her unexpected sign of affection.

"Promise me you won't go out into the snow, no matter how long I take, okay?" Eevee winked at him. Snivy didn't say anything to her; he was still speechless from her kiss. She then ventured out into the winter wonderland.

* * *

Minutes passed as Eevee ran through the blizzard. However, instead of worrying about the cold, her thoughts were instead filled with indecisiveness. You see, there was another reason why she asked Snivy that question earlier. Secretly, she had found a few elemental stones that would allow her to evolve into a different Pokémon. But she wasn't sure of which one to evolve in to. So, she hid them; buried them underneath a few bushes that she had always walked by back in the spring and summer. Eevee figured _now_ was the time to make the decision to evolve. But she still wasn't sure which stone to pick...

Since the snowstorm wasn't very rough at the moment, Eevee could easily tell where she was, and how to get back to the cave. Her paws tapped over the snow as she sprinted towards the location of the stones. Suddenly, she realized that she had been out in the storm for quite some time, and she thought about Snivy.

_"Hm... I better hurry. I don't want to leave him there to freeze to death..." _She shuddered at the thought.

Eventually, Eevee came across the bushes, indicating that she had found the stones she hid. She walked next to the bushes, and began running her paws through the snow. The first few inches of snow were easily brushed away. However, the last few inches of snow, before the ground, had frozen. She started to scratch through the ice, very slowly scraping it away. A good amount of time had passed before she finally hit the dirt ground. Luckily, the ground was easier to dig through than the ice, although it sill took some time before she finally saw something protrude out of the dirt. She pushed aside the last pieces of dirt, and saw the three stones.

One of water, one of fire, and one of thunder...

Eevee stared at the precious stones. They were a little smaller than the size of her paw. Each one was capable of greatly altering her future. Once she picked one, she knew she could not go back... Snivy's words echoed in her head:

_"... I think I like you now, just the way you are!"_

His words only added more pressure on her decision. Would Snivy be mad if she evolved and didn't tell him? What would he think of her if she wasn't an Eevee anymore? She didn't know what to do... She decided to bring all three stones with her. Maybe Snivy could help her choose...

_"Alright, now I just need to head ba-" _An unexpected coarse wind blew over Eevee, interrupting her thoughts. She shivered at the cold. Looking up and around the area, she noticed that the storm picked itself back up again. It also brought along a dense fog that obstructed her visibility; She could only see a few feet in front of herself. She picked up the stones and sprinted back to the cave.

As Eevee ran through the fog, she began to panic. The fog had caused her to lose her way, and now she didn't know where she was. Every direction she looked was an infinite void of white. She grew tired from running, and the thin air made it difficult to breathe, only adding insult to injury. She couldn't call for help, because all the Pokémon were hibernating. And she knew Snivy wouldn't come out in this cold; Especially since she specifically told him _not_ to... Eevee sat against a tree, facing the reality that there was nothing she could do. She closed her eyes and began to drift away...

Was this it? Was this her end?

…

Eevee felt her body being dragged along the snow. How was she moving...?  
Someone was carrying her.  
After slowly opening her eyes, she looked to her left.

"Huh? S-Snivy...?"

"D-Don't worry. I g-g-got you..." His voice stuttered; He was freezing! The ice and snow that pelted him caused him to cringe, but he continued to carry Eevee over his right shoulder.

"Snivy... How did you-"

"W-We're closer than y-you think."

Eevee looked up. The entrance to their cave was within their view, just a few feet away.

"Where are the stones?"

"Right h-here..." Snivy held up his left hand, holding the three stones. Eevee let out a sigh of relief.

When the two of them were finally back in the cave, Snivy placed Eevee down against the wall farthest from the entrance. He then put the stones a safe distance near her. While Eevee was all settled and began to rest, Snivy, however, began to suffer worst from the outside cold. He shouldn't have stepped out there; Being the grass type that he was, the blizzard greatly fatigued him. He stumbled back against the wall next to Eevee, and fell to the ground.

He passed out...

* * *

Eevee awoke to the sound of the low howling wind that blew around inside their cave. She couldn't tell how much time had passed... but she definitely felt better. She glanced around and noticed Snivy lying next to her. Her eyes widened when she remembered that he had gone _out into the cold _to get her. She noticed that he wasn't moving.

"Oh no, Snivy!" She quickly lied down next to him, to keep him warm. But he was stone-cold. She wouldn't be able to warm him up quick enough. Panicking, her eyes moved all around the cave to see what could be of help. Her gaze fell on the stones. She ran over to them, but stopped. Was this her only way of saving Snivy? She closed her eyes and quickly shook her head. She didn't have time to think.

"I have to save him!" Eevee valiantly shouted. She grabbed the fire stone with both of her paws. She glanced at the other two stones, acknowledging their presence, but ignoring the decision to evolve using one of them. She shut her eyes tight and held the fire stone close to her chest.

_"I have to save him!" _She repeated it in her head. She felt an immense power grow inside her.

A deep warmth...  
A purifying fire...  
An eternal flame...

Eevee felt her body physically grow, and an extra tuft of fur grew around her neck, forming a mane. The power she felt began to diminish... When it was all gone, she opened her eyes. Her fur had turned into a flaming-orange color. Her tail and mane became a pale yellow color. The stone she was holding was gone.

Her transformation was complete; Eevee was now a Flareon.

But she didn't have time to admire herself, she had to save Snivy! Flareon turned around and threw herself over Snivy. She wrapped her arms around him. His ice-cold body began to warm from her extreme body heat.

"Come on, Snivy! Warm up!" She affectionately rubbed her face against his. Her body did indeed heat his at a rather fast rate, now that she was a Flareon. However, more time passed as Flareon held on to Snivy...

He still wasn't moving...

When she realized the reality of the situation, she closed her eyes tight; Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.

"Snivy... Please don't go..." Her tears slowly flowed down her face as she became filled with regret and depression.

_"If only I was quicker..."_ Flareon criticized herself. _"Why did I go out to get the stones? Why didn't I just look for something to make a fire? I'm so weak I had to make Snivy come out to get me... I should've been stronger..." _These harsh, critical thoughts filled her with self-anger and more regret. She closed her eyes and cried some more.

However...

Flareon's eyes widened when she felt something touch her face. A leafy hand ran over her cheek, rubbing away her tears. She looked down to see Snivy with his eyes half-opened. He gave her a weak, but warm and comforting smile.

"Thank you... Eevee..."


End file.
